South West farmers are warning European cash reforms could mean animals disappear from the landscape.

European subsidies are to change so farmers are to be paid for looking after land, rather than keeping animals.

The National Farmers' Union (NFU) says changes are needed, but they may make keeping livestock uneconomic.

As livestock profits are small, some farmers have said it will be appealing to stop keeping stock and just take subsidies.

We need to make ourselves the livestock farming powerhouse of western Europe Anthony Gibson, NFU

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Farmer Anthony Rew, from Newton Abbot in Devon, has concerns about the future.

He said: "We've had several years of low return in beef.

"If the market isn't prepared to pay a figure that will give us back costs of production, people will stop producing beef."

The NFU said the reforms could mean the loss of the South West countryside's traditional look of fields full of livestock.

But it also said that changes are needed to allow farmers to work to customer demand.

NFU Regional Director Anthony Gibson said: "We have to turn a potential threat into a real opportunity.

"We need to make ourselves the livestock farming powerhouse of western Europe, farming in response to the market instead of politics."

If livestock farming declines, it could cause a chain reaction. Businesses such as farmers' markets and abattoirs could suffer.

Farmers' markets could be affected

Sally Thompson of Exeter Farmers' Supermarket said: "I don't think the way the subsidies are paid will affect the quality of the brand.

"However, we are dependent on local abattoirs and processors. If throughput falls and businesses are put at risk, the whole thing could fall apart."

There could also be a problem for some of the region's most important countryside.

Places such as Dartmoor rely on livestock to control overgrowth with their grazing.

The reforms could be introduced as early as next year.

NFU president Ben Gill will address the issue at a meeting in Devon on Thursday.